


All the Nights to Come

by Slipperyl3oy (Gandalfgirl579)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Character Death, F/M, Prostitution, White Walkers, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:24:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20283841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gandalfgirl579/pseuds/Slipperyl3oy
Summary: He had lost his arm in the fray, and he had lost his men,all good men, all seven of them, torn limb from limb by his childhood nightmares come to life.He had wandered his way back to the Wall with their blood on his hands and on his clothes, soaked into every garment he wore. He was sticky with it, trailing red after his every step. He was amazed the Walkers weren't following him. If they had wanted to, he knew, it would have been all too easy. Luckily, they seemed to be satisfied with his brothers's corpses.An Arcana fic set in the ASOIAF universe. Lucio is a brother of the Night's Watch, Ladon is the Lord Commander, Julian is the Maester, Valerius is the steward, and my apprentice, Errol, is Aarushi, a Myrish prostitute. Considering the fact that this is an ASOIAF AU, do tread carefully! Tags will be updated as they become relevant.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a miracle that he was alive. 

He had lost his arm in the fray, and he had lost his men, _all good men_, all seven of them, torn limb from limb by his childhood nightmares come to life. 

He had wandered his way back to the Wall with their blood on his hands and on his clothes, soaked into every garment he wore. He was sticky with it, trailing red after his every step. He was amazed the Walkers weren't following him. If they had wanted to, he knew, it would have been all too easy. They seemed to be satisfied with his brothers's corpses.

He wondered if, perhaps, the cold had finally gotten to him, and he'd gone mad from it, and this was all some hallucination. 

He wondered if, perhaps, he deserved this for abandoning his people all those years ago and becoming a crow.

He wondered if, perhaps, he was imagining the voice calling his name and the black-clad figure rushing out from the gate to meet him.

"Lucio!" 

The voice was painfully familiar, but he collapsed before its owner could reach him.

He was aware, vaguely, vaguely, of shouting, of being lifted and pulled through the gate and taken into warmth and light and the waking world. It hurt more than he had expected.

"Lucio." It was definitely Cita's voice. "Can you hear me?"

Though Lucio couldn't bring himself to speak, he did manage to open his eyes, bleary though his vision still was.

Cita grinned down at him. "I guess you're not dead, huh?"

All Lucio could do was sigh.

He was distracted, though, when Lord Commander Ladon strode in, all fur and leather and sharp eyes, demanding, "Where are the others?"

Though it took all the strength in his frozen-stiff body, Lucio managed, "Dead."

Something dark flashed in Ladon's eyes, and he asked, "_All of them_?"

With a grim nod, Lucio agreed, "All."

Pressing his lips together, the Lord Commander muttered, "Seven save us."

"Wildlings?" Cita asked.

Lucio croaked, "Walkers Walkers."

"There's no such thing." Valerius, the Lord Commander's steward, had been the one to say it. He stood beside the table Lucio rested on, carefully resting a hand upon his shoulder. His own hands were soft as silk. The man had never seen an honest day's work in all his life.

"I've seen--"

"No one's seen them in a thousand years," Julian, the Watch's Maester, added. He, all knew, was more open to these things than most, yet even he seemed skeptical. "Even if they _did_ exist at some point, they're far gone now."

Gathering his voice, Lucio insisted, "_I've seen them_."

"You're delirious." Though Julian said it kindly, softly, it was clear that he believed it. He inspected Lucio's severed arm as he spoke, gently prodding at it with a single gloved fingertip. It was frozen solid, Lucio thought. Why else would it not hurt? "You must be exhausted."

Lucio rolled his eyes, hissed, snarled, "Then you think I killed them?"

Again, unfazed by Lucio's sudden anger, Cita said, "Wildlings."

"_Walkers_," Lucio insisted. His outrage was warming him faster than the fire burning in the worn stone hearth was. "This isn't the first time I've seen them. They've been out there all this time, waiting."

"Waiting?" Lord Commander Ladon raised an eyebrow. "Waiting for what?"

"You haven't noticed the leaves changing color, Lord Commander?" There had been talk of it for weeks, whispers among the men. This summer had lasted nearly seven years, but the pretty gold creeping into the leaves and the undeniable cold creeping into the air made it obvious. "_Winter is coming_."


	2. Chapter 2

The man above her grunted low in his throat, his movements shaking the bed, rocking the heavy wood of the headboard against the plastered wood of the wall.

She didn't know his name, had never even seen him before, but she was certain he was a man of the Night's Watch. Most of her customers were.

Faking a moan, she let her head fall to one side, idly gazing into the fireplace as he finished himself inside her.

As they often were, the flames were her refuge.

Her golden man was waiting for her there, dressed all in black, surrounded by snow and snow-white living corpses, brandishing a great flaming sword, the only splash of color in her icy dream-scape. She let herself slip into it, saying nothing as her customer slid out of her and left the room. She barely felt it. She never did, not anymore. She had grown far too used to this line of work.

Sighing, Aarushi sat up, grabbing a cloth from the steaming basin of water on the bedside table and wiping herself clean.

She no longer felt dirty after letting these strange men have their way with her. This was only a brief interlude before her golden man came for her. 

Perhaps that was wrong, she thought as she stood, tossing the cloth aside and grabbing for the expensive robe that hung over the bedpost. Tugging its sides around her, she thought that perhaps she would have to go to him. Languishing here was wasting valuable time with him. Tying the sash in place, she thought, perhaps she needed to meet him halfway.

Stepping out of her bedroom and into the belly of the brothel, Aarushi called, "Mazlinka?"

Sidestepping other girls and their own customers, Aarushi found the old pirate slumped in a chair by the door, a heavy ax set across her lap.

Aarushi was never sure if it was to keep rude customers out or to keep the girls in. Again, she asked, "Mazelinka?"

"What is it?" Mazelinka had a voice like stone, rumbling and deep, strangely craggy. She collected payment from a customer before she turned her dark eyes on Aarushi.

"I need to leave."

Mazlinka clicked her tongue. "You'll do no such thing," she said, curling her lip. "You have a contract to keep."

Aarushi huffed, crossed her arms, rolled her eyes. Mazelinka was unmoved. "Please," Aarushi said, "_I need to go to him_."

"What's your hurry?" Mazelinka raised a brow, curious and just the slightest bit derisive. "You've been dreaming of him for years, it won't kill you to wait a few more, will it?"

"It might kill us all."

Mazelinka's other brow raised, too. "How so?"

"Winter is coming," Aarushi said, and she was keenly aware of the sudden tension in the air when she spoke the words. "_And the dead are coming with it_."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are much appreciated! ♡
> 
> As always, I must mention that I go by [PlaguedCount](http://plaguedcount.tumblr.com/) over on Tumblr, and I'm totally open to taking questions and comments and requests and prompts there! :) Hit me up!


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